In this panel discussion, Andy Neary and agency leaders share practical guidance for early‑career insurance producers and agency executives. They outline a four‑step thought‑leadership framework—identify what makes you different, define an ideal buyer, own a specific problem, and teach a repeatable solution—then stress the importance of a clear sales message that is amplified through social media, podcasts, and speaking engagements. For training young producers, they recommend adopting a "major and minor" niche approach, selecting niches based on personal interest, and moving upstream to larger‑revenue accounts to accelerate growth. They emphasize deliberate practice to develop good sales reps, tracking concrete metrics (daily call volume, revenue targets) to focus on controllable actions, and consistently creating content that showcases energy and credibility. The conversation underscores that content volume builds an earned right to ask for meetings, but only when paired with active outreach, conference participation, and speaking opportunities.
Chapters
Yeah, I think what you guys have nailed that a lot of people don't understand is what people want now is thought leadership. And to build thought leadership, you, one, have to know what makes you different. Two, you have to have an audience, an ideal buyer, which you guys have clearly established through the ESOPs. Three, you gotta have a problem you own for them. And four, you gotta have a framework you teach to help them solve it. Which you guys have done all of those things. Now, once you have that and you have a clear sales message, it's a game of amplifying that sales message at scale. You do that through social media or podcast or speaking, and your business will grow exponentially. My question for you, I'd be curious to hear both of your thoughts on this. So let's say there's somebody listening to this, maybe another advisor or an agency executive, because you said something, Brandon, I thought was really interesting. We've seen when our producers our newer producers niche faster, they grow 100% faster, which I couldn't agree with you more. So if you have maybe a sales leader or an agency leader out there who does train these young producers, what advice would you give them when they're trying to get these producers up to speed?
Yeah, and two things. We've got a group within the agency, young producers that are just getting going in the business. First thing, we recommend everybody have a major and a minor. So to give you some sort of guidance around that, you know, and really don't care what it is, major and a minor, start taking that approach. Yes, major and a minor. And it could be, you know, how you pick a niche. I always recommend, you know, Steve talks about pick something you're interested in. If, you know, if you're really interested in boats, get in the marine space. If you're really interested in, you know, coal and whatever, get in the mining space. I think You know, specifically on the P&C side. On the benefits side, I think your niches are easier to pick based off of what you're interested in, familiarity, et cetera. But it all comes down, I think, major to minor, and then to revenue size, target revenue size of accounts. I'm the biggest opposition of get reps. I don't believe, I don't believe it.
I've lived it.
And everyone will always say, Hey, working on a— and there's nothing wrong with it if this is what you're focused on— but working on a $10,000 revenue account is the exact same amount, if not more work, of working on a $75,000 revenue account. And what we're seeing is that the younger producers that are willing to make the hard call first and start going upstream faster, they're the ones having success because they're getting real reps. Just going out there, you know, you know, perfect practice makes perfect. Bad practice also makes really bad habits. And I think that's the number one thing with our younger team members that Steve and I are focused on helping them with is getting good reps. Yeah. And coming up with a major and minor.
And it's also knowing, knowing your numbers. So how many companies you wanna impact? How much revenue do you wanna generate? And backing in, okay, how many calls do I need to make every single day? To hit that goal. So then you get out of focusing on the goal and you focus on the action, what you can actually control. In this business, you can't control much, but you can control the work you put into it. So that's what we're coaching up those younger producers on too. You can learn the whole industry, you can spend all your time educating yourself, but you got to be taking the action. Control what you control every single day.
I agree. I mean, I, I can teach anybody all they want to know about how to build a brand identify their ideal buyer, create a clear sales message. If you don't put in the work, none of it matters. We can't do the activity for you.
Yeah, and I think that goes back to what you're helping people to do as well. When you're helping someone develop their content, post it online, that stuff is going to gain traction and create familiarity. But if they're not willing to go to the conferences, pick up the call, say yes to the speaking engagements, you're not going to get as much impact and as much success as you would be if you were taking those actions.
And I think the two things that the content can really do— talked about energy. If I can see your energy, especially video content, I can see your energy before I ever meet you, and I go, I want that energy in my room. Well, you just now have credibility with a buyer you've never met, right? Because they already are— they're already getting a feel for your energy. But I'm also a believer the more content you put out there, the more right you have earned to ask. So the fact you guys are out there every day now should give you the ability to call and pick up the phone and say, you should want a meeting with me. Now, you're not saying that, but you're thinking that, like, we are giving you so much value, you should want to take it.
And that goes back to the conviction.
And that's that conviction. Oh, I just— I love what you guys are doing. Again, at a point where a lot of producers at your age will probably still be trying to figure out where the hell they're going, you guys have built something really cool that's only gonna exponentially grow from here, which is fun to watch.
